By Brian Kates
Sentencing the Ft. Hood shooter
The Ft. Hood shooting suspect was charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder. If convicted he could face the death penalty. Does he deserve it?
Hasan, the Army psychiatrist charged with killing 13 people in the Nov. 5 massacre, “has no sensation from the nipple area down,” Hasan’s civilian attorney, John P. Galligan, told the Washington Post.
Galligan said Hasan has been told the paralysis is permanent.
The attorney participated Saturday in an hour-long, closed-door hearing in an intensive care room at Brooke Army Medical Center, where a magistrate ruled that the Hasan will be held until he can be transferred to jail.
“In the middle of this hearing, he started to nod off and go to sleep,” Galligan said. “When I’ve spoken with him, he’s coherent, but your ability to have any meaningful exchange with him is limited in time and subject.”
Hasan currently is charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder in the shooting spree, but Galligan said he “fully anticipates that the military will file additional charges.
A court-martial date has not been set.
Hasan was shot by civilian members of Fort Hood’s police force after the attack in a crowded building where soldiers are sent before deployment to finalize wills, update vaccinations and get vision and dental screenings.
Galligan said the major has been getting letters and cards, which the government copies before turning over to him. He did not reveal their contents.
“I don’t know what rights and privileges he had that will now be changed, such as visitors or if they’ll open his mail,” Galligan said after the hearing. “There are still many issues that haven’t been addressed.”
Galligan said he is concerned about where Hasan will be moved once he’s released from the hospital, but he does not know when that will happen.
To Write Cards & Letters:
Nidal Malik Hasan c/o
Brooke Army Medical Center
3851 Roger Brooke Dr.
San Antonio, TX 78234
If the announcement that Hasan is permanately paralyzed is supposed to garner sympathy for him – give it up. Some of his victims might prefer that to being dead, but they weren’t given that option. He is a vicious murderer who knew exactly what he was doing, enjoyed killing Americans, and would have killed more if he hadn’t been stopped.
The only question remaining is – which would be the worst punishment – execution or a long life in prison as a cripple who is despised by all around him.
I don’t think the point had anything to do with sympathy. I do think it has everything to do with our judicial system. He hasn’t even been convicted yet, and the topic of ‘the best punishment’ is already coming up?
I call it a double-standard.